In recent years, thankfully, racism has slowly faded out of our national sport, football. Compared to the early eighties where black players were consistently victimised for the colour of their skin, apart from the odd supporter trying to make a name for themselves, recent times have seen the game of football except all backgrounds more gracefully. However, in the last few weeks two separate incidents involving two of the game’s most high-profile players have raised a dark cloud over the sport and whether integration has truly been accepted within football. Firstly the Uruguayan Luis Suarez racist comments to an opponent in which he claims cultural differences are the reasoning behind the offence. The second incident came in the form of the England captain of all people, John Terry. His alleged remarks in a game towards QPR defender Anton Ferdinand were caught on live TV cameras and beamed around the world.

  But what happens when children witness their actions and decided to mimic   their heroes? The next time Luis Suarez met the opponent who he made the racist remarks to he refused to shake the players hand live on TV, something which the next day a young mascot repeated towards a fellow mascot from the oppositions team. It is not only racist behaviour which children copy of their idols: celebrations, hairstyles and footwear to name just a few of the other aspects which they admire and imitate .But why do they copy footballers so easily and what effect will the actions of these players have on society. To find out more we spoke to Paul Humphries from the charity ‘Show Racism The Red Card’ and asked if he thought footballers were good role models.Paul Humphries (Show Racism The Red Card)

To balance out opinions we also spoke to supporters of Chelsea Football Club and asked supporters whether they believed their own captain, John Terry, was still a good role model despite the recent allegations of racist behaviour. This was their response:Chelsea Fans Audio

As the Olympic Game approaches, are you considering doing something for the city? The River Thames is calling on you!

On Mar 13, 97 volunteers gathered in Poplar for the River Thames deep cleaning. Organized by Thames21, the deep cleaning aims at collecting the garbage on the beach of the river. It’s a cold windy day, but all the volunteers were devoted and passionate. Though they come from different career and varied by age, they shared a same goal, which is to make the River Thames better. It is the 3rd time of deep cleaning in the year 2012. Before that it has already been organized in Battersea Bridge  and Caroline Draw . The programme has lasted for 13 years.

 Things to do in deep cleaning:

• Get stuck in: Help us clean-up dirty rivers and canals
• Make a splash: Learn how to kayak and litter-pick at the same time
• Make a meadow: Help plant wildflower meadows as part of the Mad   
• Take a lead: Benefit from training so you can lead your own waterway improvement activities
• Regenerate: Help remove weeds and invasive species from waterways and riverbanks, allowing native species to flourish
• New homes: Help create wildlife habitats

 Many people question the function of voluntary work. James Todd, the coordinator of Thames21 explains how it contributes to the society in a different way:

voluntary interview

Deep cleaning is not only a way to clean the garbage. There are also some interesting discoveries. Chris Cooper, the organizer of the deep cleaning tells you how to tell the history of the garbage through its appearance:

interesting discoveries

There are always regular participants who hold deep love to this city and the River Thames:

regular paticipant

This is an opportunity to ensure these valuable spaces, which characterize the London 2012 locations, are seen as places we love, respect and enjoy, highlighting London’s commitment to sustainability and social inclusion.

Don’t forget to listen to our programme for further reportage.

Find out more on http://www.thames21.org.uk

Car insurance has been on the up for young people for quite a few years now,                                                       

I asked Caroline Holmes of the Institute of Advanced Motoring if the price of insurance will ever stop going up.

[audio <div data-boourl="http://audioboo.fm/boos/738668-insurance-8-x/embed"><a href="http://audioboo.fm/boos/738668-insurance-8-x">listen to &lsquo;insurance 8 x&rsquo; on Audioboo</a></div><script type="text/javascript">(function() { var po = document.createElement("script"); po.type = "text/javascript"; po.async = true; po.src = "http://d15mj6e6qmt1na.cloudfront.net/assets/embed.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })();</script>]

Comedienne Lolie Ware

Stand Up Comedy may now be “more popular than ever”.

That’s according to some comedy forums on the internet. Our reporter Thomas Watters decided to find out more about why stand up has suddenly become so popular as part of Radio 1 Stories: The Story of Stand Up.

He talked to audience members at an open mic night in Camden who said they were there because it was a fun and more importantly cheap night out. He also talked to a comedian before his first time on stage, finding that it was something that he’d wanted to do for years, but it was the surge in popularity that had made him finally give it a go himself.

As well as this, he got the chance to talk to professional comedienne and radio presenter Lolie Ware. She had a number of thoughts on why stand-up has exploded and how it feels to be part of such a successful movement.

And now you can hear more from Lolie, talking about why she got into comedy and whether she thinks its new found popularity will continue to grow.

Lolie tells us why she got started in stand up

And if she thinks it will become even more popular

The Radio 1 Story of Stand Up is still available on the BBC iPlayer

The track listing from this week show are from all the normal Speakerbox genres, UKG, Funky, Bashment, US hip hop and R’n'B.

1. Sway ft Lamar – Saturday Night Hustle
2. Wookie ft Ni – Falling Again
3. N.E.R.D ft Kanye West & Pusha – Everybody Knows (Remix)
4. Craig David Free Style On Giggs Track – Talking The Hardest
5. Ludacris ft Bun B & Rick Ross – Down In The Dirty South
6. Kano - B’s & C’s
7. Lil Wanye ft Jay Z – Mr Carter
8. Gym Class Heroes ft Busta – Peace Up, Index Down
9. Playerz Circle – Paper Chaser
10. Sticky – How Very Dare You
11. Street Politiks – I’ll Ride
12. Mavado - Im On The Rock
13. Click Mi Finger – Erupt

If there is a Urban track that you really want to be played or think we should being playing then email us on speakerbox@smokeradio.co.uk just leave the name the track and artist also long with you own name and we will try and play your track and give you a shout out.

Please remember we will have loads of  emails, so if yours is not chosen please don’t give up!

If your a singer, rapper, MC or producer who makes urban music aged 16 to 30 Speakerbox wants you!

As we believe that young music is very important to future of urban music. We are looking for new urban talent to get on the show to talk about your music and to give you some air play. This will hopefully give you the chance to be recognized by record label A and R’s and get your foot in the door.

All you have to do to apply is send an email to speakerbox@smokeradio.co.uk with the following information:

• A photo of you and your band
• Type of music you make
• A MP3 or wave track
• A bio about yourself

That’s it!

(All music must be made by you, no samples and you must be aged 16 to 25)

Also i would like to open up the debate of who your hero of 2008 was?

Mine was definitely Deadmau5…

Also check out his new hard version of ‘Ghosts N Stuff’

show logo

Broadcast every Friday from 5 until 7 in the evening, this show is guaranteed to make you laugh, cry and grumble with disappointment.

Join Spike and Jake this Friday, for such award winning features as ‘Oli’ll fix it’, ‘State of the Nation’, ‘Track Hits’ and the return of ‘Spikey’s Icies’.

The Apple Bites Back is broadcast on Smoke Radio, the student radio station for the University of Westminster. To hear what is being broadcast LIVE right now, then CLICK HERE (link opens in a new window).

- – - Recent News – - -

• It has been announced that Oli P, our ‘agony uncle’ has been selected by the world renowned performer Michael Jackson as a support act for his recently announced London shows. More news about this announcement can be found HERE.
• Jake Franks, one half of the comedy duo of The Apple Bites Back, has begun creating a rather poor attempt at an official website for the show. Using his ‘JakeFranks.com’ domain, he has made an appalling website, which you can view by clicking HERE.

We won Gold for Best Newcomer, Silver for Station of the Year and Bronze for Best Interview.

You can listen to the station here.